North Carolina Basketball: Who is the Tar Heels’ best NBA Draft prospect?
The North Carolina Tar Heels have seven players eligible to be selected in the 2017 NBA Draft. Will all seven Tar Heel draft prospects ultimately play professionally?
The North Carolina Tar Heels are one of the top programs in college basketball at producing NBA players. The Tar Heels have produced a nation-high 47 first-round draft picks in program history and has had 89 players play either in the NBA or the ABA. 14 former Tar Heels were on an NBA roster in 2016-17.
The seven Tar Heels in this year’s draft will likely add to the program’s legacy of producing NBA players. However, not every Carolina player will get drafted or even play professionally. In fact, it is likely that only two or three of the Tar Heels that are draft eligible will be selected.
UNC has had multiple players drafted six times since the turn of the century, including in 2016. There also has been six years where no Tar Heels has been drafted. Since Roy Williams took over the program in 2003, 22 players have gone on to play professionally.
The seven players that are eligible for the 2017 draft include Tony Bradley, Nate Britt, Kanler Coker, Isaiah Hicks, Justin Jackson, Kennedy Meeks, and Stillman White. Before delving into which players have the best chance to get drafted, I will look at the players that have no chance of being drafted.
Coker and White are two of the seven of players who will not likely play professionally. Coker spent two years on the Tar Heels’ football team before an elbow injury ended his career. He then walked on to the basketball team before earning a scholarship in 2016-17. Coker scored nine points in 28 minutes of action over 21 games this past season.
White may have a chance to play oversees, if he so desires. The 6-1 point guard is a very good distributor and plays hard. White averaged 1.4 points in 97 minutes over 27 games this past season.
The following is a look at the top Tar Heel pro prospects in 2017-18.